UK Ministers visit the chars

Douglas Alexander and Ed Miliband, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, visited the CLP working area in early September 2009 as part of their travels in South East Asia in the lead up to the Copenhagen Conference on climate change.

[caption: Ric Goodman, Director of Operations (left), discusses with the two ministers about the importance of tubewells for providing safe drinking water to char dwellers.]

The ministers were able to see firsthand the effects of severe weather conditions on the daily lives of char dwellers. By talking to some beneficiaries, they saw how the CLP is supporting them to better cope with extreme weather conditions. With a raised plinth and the security of owning a cow, families can now stay dry and have a means of making an income. 

[caption: Douglas Alexander and Ed Miliband talking with Zubairul Hoque (Infrastructure Manager) to Rehana, a CLP beneficiary, on her raised homestead plinth]

Given its location on a low-lying river plain, Bangladesh is particularly prone to flooding, and could be severely affected by climate change. The Ministers were able to see how difficult life is for the char dwellers even now, and to appreciate how future changes in climate would only make their lives even more vulnerable. 

[caption: The Ministers' trip was kindly organised by one of CLP's partner implementing organisations, Manab Mukti Sangstha (MMS), in Sirajgonj]

Read more here:http://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2009/09/climate-change-bangladesh